Please Do Not Touch

Written by Casey Bailey
Directed by Gail Babb

“They will tell you that legal and illegal are the same as right and wrong. And I’ve told you that you only have to sit still for a moment and watch the pieces move to see what a lie that is.”

Written by former Birmingham Poet Laureate Casey Bailey (GrimeBoy, Birmingham Rep) and directed by award-winning theatre maker, Gail Babb (Stars, Tamasha – OFFIE’S Best New Play 2024), Please Do Not Touch is a co-production between China Plate and Belgrade Theatre in association with Birmingham Hippodrome. Following a successful premiere and run in Coventry in 2024, Selorm Adonu will be stepping into the role of Mason for the remount and first national tour in Spring 2026. Read an interview with Selorm Adonu here.

An extension of Casey’s poetry collection of the same name, Please Do Not Touch follows the story of Mason, an activist who explores historic houses on TikTok to uncover the true stories behind the objects that lie within. After an incident with a Somali Afro comb, he is wrongly imprisoned in a Young Offender Institution. Can he find a way to survive this ordeal and navigate how to keep speaking up when everything is designed to silence him?

This show asks important questions about colonial legacy, contested heritage and how stories are told, whilst shining a light on the criminal justice system.

Supported using public funding by the National Lottery through Arts Council England and The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Thanks to National Lottery players, for making this project possible.

Content to Consider

Age guidance for this show is 16+.

Please be aware this show contains strong language; reference to suicide and references to racism throughout.

Group Bookings

Booking for a group? If you purchase 10 or more tickets at the same time, each ticket is reduced to £10!

Studio Event

Please note that this performance takes place in our smaller Studio Theatre. If it’s your first visit or you are unfamiliar with the Mercury building, you can find out more about our spaces here.

Education Resources

Alongside staff and volunteers at the National Trust, young people were involved in the development of Casey’s play right from the beginning – school pupils, youth groups in North Birmingham where Casey grew up, and young black men in prison. The play continued to engage young people when first performed at the Belgrade Theatre in 2024 – as audiences, as workshop participants and as creators of their own response to the play and its themes. Inspired by young people’s responses, China Plate Theatre are offering a set of resources aimed at deepening young people’s engagement with the play as it tours the country. Aimed at school years 9 and 10 (12-15 year-olds) they can be used by teachers, youth group leaders or home schoolers to prepare young people for seeing the show, offer activities to explore the show’s themes and signpost places where they can find out more information. Click here to access all the digital resources.

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